July 30, 2011

Kanter doesn’t want to sit another season, considers China

Last season the NCAA relegated Enes Kanter to wearing a suit when Kentucky played, saying he had played for a professional team in his native Turkey and was ineligible to play college ball (he did practice with the team).

Still, there was enough promise there — big men with soft hands are a rarity — that the Utah Jazz drafted Kanter No. 3 overall.

And now the lockout could force him to sit another season. He, understandably, does not want to do that.

So while he is hesitant, Kanter is considering playing in China, his agnet told the Salt Lake Tribune.

"Kanter’s agent, Max Ergul, told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that his client has official offers from two teams. Ergul does not want Kanter to miss another year of basketball, and he will seriously weigh the offers if the lockout stretches into late September.

“It’s very interesting stuff,” said Ergul, who said he could not reveal the names of the Chinese teams because details of the negotiations are still confidential. “We’ll be entertaining those ideas as well as the lockout progresses. He’s a ballplayer — he has to play.”

Kanter will play for Turkey in Euro Basket starting at the end of August. That tournament will deterimine European Olympic bids for the 2012 London Olympics.